Systems and methods for cloud-based management of payment devices

ABSTRACT

A computer-implemented method for cloud-based management of payment devices includes connecting a point of interaction device (POI) to a terminal management engine (TME) through a computer network, downloading operating software for the POI and configuration files for the POI from the TME to the POI, initializing the POI using the operating software, and configuring the POI using the configuration files. An alternative computer-implemented includes connecting to a POI through a computer network, receiving a transaction request from a TMC through the computer network, confirming access to the POI, transmitting a request for consumer information to the POI, receiving requested consumer information from the POI, transmitting the requested consumer information to the TMC, receiving a transaction approval message or a transaction decline message from the TMC, and transmitting the transaction approval message or the transaction decline message to the POI.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to the field of paymenttransactions and, more particularly, to the configuration and managementof point of interaction devices (POIs) used for such transactions.

BACKGROUND

Merchants and other store owners have point of sale (POS) terminals andPOS systems that can accept check or payment card payments fromconsumers for goods and services. Such environments typically includedevices, such as card readers and PIN pads, used to collect paymentinformation from the consumer. Such devices are also known as “point ofinteraction” devices (POIs). A merchant may have a single POI or mayhave multiple POIs, possibly distributed across multiple locations.Merchants, thus, may be required to install, manage, and configuremultiple POIs. These tasks may include installing operating software oneach POI, configuring the POI to accept payments to submit to outsidepayment processors, and permitting such outside payment processors toaccess the merchant's internal networks. Such access may be complicatedby the merchant's existing IT infrastructure, including firewalls andother IT security measures.

Even after the POI has been installed, the merchant faces challenges inmaintaining and managing the POI. A given POI device must be confirmedas being certified for interaction with an outside payment processor. APOI may fail and, thus, be offline and unavailable for processingpayments, but such failures may be silent and not detected immediately.These challenges may be exacerbated when the merchant has a large numberof POIs spread across multiple locations.

Accordingly, there is a need for processes and systems to reduce thecomplexity and costs of installing, configuring, and managing the POIsthat process check or payment card payments for a merchant.

SUMMARY

According to certain aspects of the present disclosure, systems andmethods are disclosed for automatically installing and configuring apoint of interaction device (POI) for processing consumer paymentswithin a merchant environment.

In one embodiment, a computer-implemented method is disclosed forcloud-based management of payment devices. The method includes:connecting a point of interaction device (POI) to a terminal managementengine (TME) through a computer network; downloading operating softwarefor the POI and configuration files for the POI from the TME to the POIthrough the computer network; initializing the POI using the downloadedoperating software; and configuring the POI using the downloadedconfiguration files.

In an alternative embodiment, a computer-implemented method is disclosedfor cloud-based management of payment devices. The method includes:receiving a connection from a point of interaction device (POI) at aterminal management engine (TME) through a computer network;transmitting operating software for the POI and configuration files forthe POI from the TME to the POI through the computer network;transmitting instructions to the POI for initializing the POI using thedownloaded operating software through the computer network; andtransmitting instructions to the POI for configuring the POI using thedownloaded configuration files through the computer network.

In a further embodiment, a computer-implemented method is disclosed forcloud-based management of payment devices. The method includes:connecting to a point of interaction device (POI) through a computernetwork; receiving a transaction request from a transaction managementcontroller (TMC) through the computer network; confirming access to thePOI; transmitting a request for consumer information to the POI;receiving requested consumer information from the POI; transmitting therequested consumer information to the TMC; receiving a transactionapproval message or a transaction decline message from the TMC; andtransmitting the transaction approval message or the transaction declinemessage to the POI.

In accordance with another embodiment, a system is disclosed forcloud-based management of payment devices. The system comprises: amemory having processor-readable instructions stored therein; and aprocessor configured to access the memory and execute theprocessor-readable instructions, which when executed by the processorconfigures the processor to perform a plurality of functions, includingfunctions to: connect to a point of interaction device (POI) through acomputer network; receive a transaction request from a transactionmanagement controller (TMC) through the computer network; confirm accessto the POI; transmit a request for consumer information to the POI;receive requested consumer information from the POI; transmit therequested consumer information to the TMC; receive a transactionapproval message or a transaction decline message from the TMC; andtransmit the transaction approval message or the transaction declinemessage to the POI.

Additional objects and advantages of the disclosed embodiments will beset forth in part in the description that follows, and in part will beapparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of thedisclosed embodiments. The objects and advantages on the disclosedembodiments will be realized and attained by means of the elements andcombinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory onlyand are not restrictive of the detailed embodiments, as claimed.

It may be understood that both the foregoing general description and thefollowing detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only andare not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments of thepresent disclosure and together with the description, serve to explainthe principles of the disclosure.

FIG. 1 depicts a merchant environment for processing consumer payments,according to one or more embodiments.

FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of an example terminal management engine(TME) configured to manage a point of interaction device (POI),according to one or more embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart depicting an example process for automaticallyinstalling and configuring a POI in a merchant environment, according toone or more embodiments.

FIGS. 4A and 4B depict a process flow diagram of an example method ofprocessing consumer payments within a merchant environment, according toone or more embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart depicting an example process for processingconsumer payments within a merchant environment, according to one ormore embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

While principles of the present disclosure are described herein withreference to illustrative embodiments for particular applications, itshould be understood that the disclosure is not limited thereto. Thosehaving ordinary skill in the art and access to the teachings providedherein will recognize additional modifications, applications,embodiments, and substitution of equivalents all fall within the scopeof the embodiments described herein. Accordingly, the invention is notto be considered as limited by the foregoing description.

Various non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure will now bedescribed to provide an overall understanding of the principles of thestructure, function, and use of systems and methods disclosed herein forinstalling and managing point of interaction devices within a merchantenvironment.

As described above, a merchant may encounter high complexity and highcosts of installing, configuring, and managing the point of interactiondevices (POIs) that process check or payment card payments for themerchant. Thus, the embodiments of the present disclosure are directedto improving (i.e., reducing) the complexity and cost of such animplementation by providing automatic installation and configuration ofPOIs. Furthermore, embodiments may provide for centralized management ofPOIs.

For simplicity, the description that follows will be provided byreference to a “payment vehicle” or a “payment card,” which generallyrefers to any type of financial alternative to currency. As is to beclear to those skilled in the art, no aspect of the present disclosureis specifically limited to a specific type of payment vehicle or paymentcard. Therefore, it is intended that the following descriptionencompasses the use of the present disclosure with many other forms offinancial alternatives to currency, including credit cards, debit cards,smart cards, single-use cards, prepaid cards, electronic currency (suchas might be provided through a cellular telephone or personal digitalassistant), and the like. Payment vehicles or payment cards can betraditional plastic transaction cards, titanium-containing, or othermetal-containing, transaction cards, clear and/or translucenttransaction cards, foldable or otherwise unconventionally-sizedtransaction cards, radio-frequency enabled transaction cards, or othertypes of transaction cards, such as credit, charge, debit, prepaid orstored-value cards, electronic benefit transfer cards, or any other likefinancial transaction instrument.

Overview

Referring now to FIG. 1 , in one or more embodiments, a system 100 isdisclosed for managing payment authorization request messaging forpayment transactions. System 100 may include a payment processing system105 and one or more merchant locations 135. Payment processing system105 and merchant location 135 may be connected by computers networks,such as first network connection 125, second network connection 130and/or cloud 120. Payment processing system 105 may include atransaction management controller (TMC) 110 and a terminal managementengine (TME) 115, which may be connected by network connection 155.Merchant location 135 may include a business management engine (BME) 140and a point of interaction (POI) device 145. POI 145 may provide a userinterface, such as a pin pad, keyboard, touch screen, or other suitableuser interaction device, to allow interaction of a user 150 with POI145. BME 140 may be connected to TMC 110 by way of a first computernetwork connection 125. In one or more embodiments, POI device 145 maybe communicatively isolated from BME 140. Multiple POIs 145 may beinstalled at multiple locations for a single merchant. Each of theinstalled POIs 145 for the merchant may be accessed through a single TME115.

At the time of installation of a POI 145, a connection between POI 145and TME 115 may be established by way of a second computer networkconnection 130. A merchant ID and a lane ID may be associated with POI145, and POI operating software and configuration files may beestablished on POI 145. In one or more embodiments, POI 145 mayautomatically establish communication with TME 115, and TME 115 mayautomatically transmit the POI operating software and configurationfiles to POI 145. The internal structure of TME 115 will be discussed ingreater detail below with respect to FIG. 2 . The installation processfor a POI 145 will be discussed in greater detail below with respect toFIG. 3 .

In operation, TMC 110 may receive a payment request from BME 140 inconnection with a payment transaction. The payment request may include atransaction amount and can be embodied as a Hypertext Transfer Protocol(HTTP) message. After receiving the payment request, TMC 110 may requesta payment transaction type from POI device 145. The requested paymenttransaction type may correspond to the payment card or payment vehiclethat is to be used for the payment transaction.

In response to receiving the requested payment transaction type from POIdevice 145, TMC 110 may request payment card data (e.g., a payment cardnumber, etc.) for the payment transaction from POI device 145 (e.g., viaa card reader, a PIN pad, etc.) based on the requested paymenttransaction type. Once the payment card data is received from POI device145, and based upon the requested payment transaction type, TMC 110 mayinsert the received transaction amount and the payment card data into apayment authorization request message. The processing of a paymentrequest by BME 140, TMC 110, TME 115 and POI 145 will be discussed ingreater detail below with respect to FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 5 .

FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of a TME 115 configured to manage a POI,according to one or more embodiments. TME 115 may comprise a processor(CPU) 210 for executing TME operating software 250, a communicationsdevice 220 for communicating with TMC 110 and POI 145, and a memory 230.Memory 230 may store TME operating software 250, TME configuration files255, POI operating software 245, and POI configuration files 240. Memory230 may also store a database 235 that may comprise data specifyingassociations between a POI 145, a merchant ID, and a lane ID.

TME operating software 250 may include software files includinginstruction for executing operations of TME 115. TME configuration files255 may include settings for parameters controlling the execution of TMEoperating software 250. POI operating software 245 may include softwarefiles including instruction for executing operations of POI 145. POIconfiguration files 240 may include settings for parameters controllingthe execution of POI operating software 245.

The communications device 220 of TME 115 may be embodied as any type ofcommunication circuit, device, interface, or collection thereof,configured for enabling communications between TME 115 and the TMC 110and POI 145 via network connections 130 and 155 or via the cloud 120.For example, the communications device 220 may be embodied as one ormore network interface controllers (NICs), using any one or morecommunication technologies (e.g., wireless or wired communications) andassociated protocols (e.g., Ethernet, Wi-Fi®, WiMAX, etc.) to effectsuch communication.

Processor 210 may be embodied as any type of processor configured forperforming the functions described herein. For example, processor 210may be embodied as a single or multi-core processor, a digital signalprocessor, microcontroller, a general purpose central processing unit(CPU), a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) processor, a processorhaving a pipeline, a complex instruction set computer (CISC) processor,an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logicdevice (PLD), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other processoror processing/controlling circuit or controller.

Memory 230 may be embodied as any type of device or devices configuredfor short-term or long-term storage of data such as, for example, memorydevices and circuits, memory cards, hard disk drives, solid-statedrives, or other data storage devices, such as magnetic disk drives,floppy drives, tape drives, hard drives, optical drives and media,magneto-optical drives and media, compact disc drives, Compact Disc ReadOnly Memory (CD-ROM), Compact Disc Recordable (CD-R), Compact DiscRewriteable (CD-RW), a suitable type of Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) orBlu-Ray disc, and so forth, or flash drives, solid state hard drives,redundant array of individual disks (RAID), virtual drives, networkeddrives and other memory means including storage media on the processor210. It should be appreciated that such memory can be internal orexternal with respect to operation of the disclosed embodiments. Itshould also be appreciated that certain portions of the processesdescribed herein can be performed using instructions stored on acomputer-readable medium or media that direct or otherwise instruct acomputer system to perform the process steps. Non-transitorycomputer-readable media, as used herein, comprises all computer-readablemedia except for transitory, propagating signals.

In FIG. 1 , TME 115 and TMC 110 are depicted as separate devices.However, in alternative embodiments, TME 115 and TMC 110 may be embodiedas a single device comprising the components of both TME 115 and TMC110.

Installation and Configuration of Point of Interaction Device (POI)

FIG. 3 is a flow chart depicting an example process for automaticallyinstalling and configuring a POI 145, according to one or moreembodiments. In step 310, POI 145 may determine whether preconfiguredinformation exists for a merchant ID and a lane ID associated with POI145. If POI 145 determines that preconfigured information exists for amerchant ID and a lane ID associated with POI 145, then at step 320, POI145 may obtain the merchant ID and the lane ID for the POI from thepreconfigured information. If POI 145 determines that no preconfiguredinformation exists for a merchant ID and a lane ID associated with POI145, then, at step 330, POI 145 may obtain the merchant ID and the laneID for POI 145 from a user 150. After obtaining a merchant ID and a laneID associated with POI 145, at step 340, POI 145 may connect to TME 115through a computer network, such as through second network connection130, and may, at step 350, transmit the merchant ID and the lane IDassociated with POI 145 to TME 115 through the computer network. POI 145may connect to TME 115 through a pre-configured network address oruniform resource locator (URL). At step 350, POI 145 may download POIoperating software 245 and POI configuration files 240 from TME 115through the computer network. After the POI operating software 245 andPOI configuration files 240 have been downloaded from TME 115, at step360 POI 145 may initialize using the downloaded POI operating software245 and, at step 370, configure POI 145 using the downloaded POIconfiguration files 240. Upon initialization and configuration of POI145, at step 380, POI 145 may transmit status of POI 145 to TME 115through the computer network. The steps of downloading POI operatingsoftware 245 and POI configuration files 240 from TME 115, andinitialization and configuration of POI 145 may be performed in responseto commands transmitted from TME 115.

Such an automatic installation and configuration process may simplifythe process of installing the POI into a simple “plug and play” method.This may reduce or eliminate the need for the merchant to installsoftware of configuration files on POI 145 manually. Instead, themerchant may be able to only plug POI 145 into the merchant's Ethernetnetwork, such as by the second network connection 130 and possiblyanswer prompts at POI 145. Such a process may allow POI 145 to make anetwork connection through any existing merchant firewalls or othersecurity infrastructure, such that TME 115 does not have to obtainaccess to POI 145 by way of virtual private networking (VPN) or othermeans. Thus, by having POI 145 make a connection to TME 115 through themerchant network environment, it may not be necessary for TME 115 tounderstand and/or be customized to each merchant environment.

Example of POI Installation and Configuration

As an example of the installation and configuration of a POI 145,consider a merchant with two locations, each having multiple lanes andeach lane including a POI 145. The merchant and/or its affiliates mayoperate a single TMC 110 and a single TME 115 to service all lanes, andall POIs, at both locations. The merchant may maintain an ITinfrastructure that includes a firewall at each location. Because thePOIs 145 at one of the locations are not at the same location as TMC 110and TME 115, a firewall exists between the POIs 145 this location andTMC 110 and TME 115.

Now consider that the merchant wishes to install a new POI 145 at thelocation which is separated from TMC 110 and TME 115 by a firewall. In amerchant environment according to one or more embodiments, the merchantwould begin installation of the new POI 145 by connecting the new POI145 to the location's computer network. The new POI 145 would connect tothe merchant's TME 115 by accessing a pre-configured URL. Onceconnected, TME 115 would transmit to POI 145 any necessary POI operatingsoftware and configuration files and initiate the configuration of POI145. This process would be completed largely without any intervention bythe merchant.

Once initialized, POI 145 would determine if an association between POI145, a merchant ID, and a lane ID had been preconfigured. If no suchassociation were preconfigured, POI 145 would prompt the merchant toenter a merchant ID and lane ID for POI 145. POI 145 would then transmitthe associated merchant and lane ID to TME 115. This would complete theinstallation and configuration of POI 145 with little or no interventionby the merchant.

Payment Request Processing within Merchant Environment

After the installation and configuration of POI 145 has been completed,BME 140, TMC 110, TME 115, and POI 145 may work together to processpayment requests within the merchant environment 100. FIGS. 4A and 4Bdepict a process flow diagram of an example method of processingconsumer payments within a merchant environment, according to one ormore embodiments.

Within a merchant environment 100, TME 115 may ensure access to a POI145. Thus, at step 402, TME 115 may verify that POI 145 is a certifieddevice. If TME 115 cannot verify that POI 145 is a certified device thenaccess to POI 145 may be disabled. At step 404, TME 115 may, in a loop,monitor POI 145 for online status, operating condition, etc., and atstep 406, optionally notify TMC 110 and/or BME 140 if POI 145 isunavailable.

When a customer transaction request is ready to be submitted forprocessing, BME 140 may request that the transaction request beprocessed using a particular lane within the merchant environment. To doso, at step 408, BME 140 may transmit a transaction request to TMC 110with an amount, a merchant ID, and a lane ID. The merchant ID mayuniquely identify the merchant, and the lane ID may identify a lanewithin the merchant environment. The merchant environment may includemultiple lanes, each with a separate POI 145. The lanes within amerchant environment may be at a single merchant location or may bedistributed across multiple locations for the merchant. A merchantenvironment may have a single TME 115 or may have multiple TMEs 115, anyof which may be configured to access any POI 145 within the merchantenvironment. However, each TME 115 may have access to POIs 145 acrossmultiple merchants. Because TMC 110 and TME 115 may be accessed throughcloud 120, the configuration of TMC 110 and TME 115 may be flexible anddynamic, and may be easily adapted to a changing merchant environment.Also, by allowing each TME 115 to access any POI 145 within the merchantenvironment, the merchant environment may be scaled up or down, possiblywithout additional configuration of the TMC 110 or BME 140. At step 410,TMC 110 may transmit a lane request to TME 115. At step 412, TME 115 mayconfirm that the requested lane identified by the lane ID is accessible.A transaction request may include custom UI elements to be presented tothe consumer 150. Such custom UI elements drive semi-custom or customscreen flows on POI 145. At step 414, If the transaction requestincludes custom UI elements, TMC 110 may transmit custom UI elements toTME 115. At step 416, TME 115 may transmit the custom UI elements to POI145.

In one or more embodiments, the custom UI elements may include specificcontent that may be ancillary to the customer transaction request. Suchspecific content may include content that may or may not be acted uponby consumer 150. For example, the specific content may includeadvertisements, contracts or other disclosures to consumer 150, requestsfor a signature from consumer 150 not specifically related to thecustomer transaction request, such as a concurrently or previouslydisplayed contract, etc., a survey to be answered by consumer, briefentertainment in the form of text, still pictures, moving pictures,animations, etc., or the like.

Completion of a transaction may require consumer information, which maybe obtained through POI 145. The consumer information may include dataobtained by reading a consumer payment card at POI 145, a personalidentification number (PIN) entered by consumer 150 at POI 145 such ason a keypad, a biometric reader (e.g., for identification information,such as fingerprints, etc.), or any other consumer information such asmay be required to complete the transaction. At step 418, TMC 110 mayrequest consumer information through TME 115. At step 420, TME 115 mayrequest consumer information from POI 145. At step 422, POI 145 maycollect consumer information, and at step 424, and POI 145 may transmitconsumer information to TME 115. At step 426, TME 115 may transmitconsumer information to TMC 110.

Once consumer information has been collected by POI 145 and transmittedto TMC 110, at step 428, TMC 110 may complete the requested transactionthrough a financial institution, payment network, etc. At step 430, TMC110 may obtain an approval or decline message for the requestedtransaction. At step 432, TMC 110 may send the approval or declinemessage to BME 140. At step 434, BME 140 may display or log the approvalor decline message. At step 436, TMC 110 may send the approval ordecline message to TME 115. At step 438, TME 115 may send the approvalor decline message to POI 145. At step 440, POI 145 may display theapproval or decline message.

As a further illustration of a method of processing consumer payments,FIG. 5 is a flow chart depicting an example process for processingconsumer payments within a merchant environment, according to one ormore embodiments.

At step 505, TME 115 may connect to a POI 145 through a computernetwork. Such a connection may be established by POI 145 initiating aconnection to TME 115 through a pre-configured network address oruniform resource locator (URL) stored on POI 145. At step 510, TME 115may verify that POI 145 is a certified device. If TME 115 cannot verifythat POI 145 is a certified device then access to POI 145 may bedisabled. At step 515, TME 115 may determine an online status and anoperational condition of POI 145. At step 520, TME 115 may notify TMC110 of the online status and the operational condition of POI 145through the computer network. At step 525, TME 115 may receive atransaction request from TMC through the computer network. Thetransaction request may include a merchant ID and lane ID correspondingto a POI 145 within the merchant environment. At step 530, TME 115 mayconfirm access to the POI 145. If POI 145 corresponding to the specifiedmerchant ID and lane ID is not available, then the transaction may becancelled with an error or the transaction may be routed to analternative POI 145 within the merchant environment. At step 535, TME115 may determine whether the transaction request includes custom UIelements. Such custom UI elements drive semi-custom or custom screenflows on POI 145. At step 545, TME 115 may, upon determining that thetransaction request includes custom UI elements, transmit the custom UIelements to the POI. At step 550, TME 115 may request consumerinformation from the POI. The consumer information may include dataobtained by reading a consumer payment card at POI 145; a personalidentification number (PIN) entered by the consumer 150 at POI 145, suchas on a keypad; biometric identification information, such asfingerprints, etc.; or any other consumer information such as may berequired to complete the transaction. At step 555, TME 115 may transmitthe requested consumer information to TMC. At step 560, TME 115 mayreceive a transaction approval message or a transaction decline messagefrom TMC. At step 565, TME 115 may transmit the transaction approvalmessage or the transaction decline message to the POI.

Example of Payment Request Processing

As an example of payment request processing within a merchantenvironment, consider a merchant completing a customer transaction.Traditionally, a POI device at the merchant location would obtaincustomer payment data and connect to a payment network to process thepayment. However, such a process may not account for verification that aPOI device is certified, monitoring the POI device to detect a failureor other unavailability of the POI device, or management access tomultiple POI devices, possibly across multiple merchant locations.

In contrast, when processing payment requests in a merchant environmentaccording to the one or more embodiments discussed above, TME 115provides verification of the certification and current availability of aparticular POI 145. Thus, the merchant may be assured that POI 145 maybe used to accept customer payment information. Furthermore, because TME115 may access and monitor multiple POls 145 across multiple merchantlocations, TME 115 may allow routing of payment requests to analternative POI 145 if the requested POI 145 is unavailable. Inaddition, because access to TME 115 from a merchant location may becloud-based (120), TME 115 may provide a scalable solution for adding,removing, or monitoring POIs 145 across multiple locations.

These and other embodiments of the systems and methods may be used aswould be recognized by those skilled in the art. The above descriptionsof various systems and methods are intended to illustrate specificexamples and describe certain ways of making and using the systemsdisclosed and described here. These descriptions are neither intended tobe nor should be taken as an exhaustive list of the possible ways inwhich these systems can be made and used. A number of modifications,including substitutions of systems between or among examples andvariations among combinations can be made. Those modifications andvariations should be apparent to those of ordinary skill in this areaafter having read this disclosure.

The systems, apparatuses, devices, and methods disclosed herein aredescribed in detail by way of examples and with reference to thefigures. The examples discussed herein are examples only and areprovided to assist in the explanation of the apparatuses, devices,systems and methods described herein. None of the features or componentsshown in the drawings or discussed below should be taken as mandatoryfor any specific implementation of any of these the apparatuses,devices, systems or methods unless specifically designated as mandatory.For ease of reading and clarity, certain components, modules, or methodsmay be described solely in connection with a specific figure. In thisdisclosure, any identification of specific techniques, arrangements,etc. are either related to a specific example presented or are merely ageneral description of such a technique, arrangement, etc.Identifications of specific details or examples are not intended to be,and should not be, construed as mandatory or limiting unlessspecifically designated as such. Any failure to specifically describe acombination or sub-combination of components should not be understood asan indication that any combination or sub-combination is not possible.It will be appreciated that modifications to disclosed and describedexamples, arrangements, configurations, components, elements,apparatuses, devices, systems, methods, etc. can be made and may bedesired for a specific application. Also, for any methods described,regardless of whether the method is described in conjunction with a flowdiagram, it should be understood that unless otherwise specified orrequired by context, any explicit or implicit ordering of stepsperformed in the execution of a method does not imply that those stepsmust be performed in the order presented but instead may be performed ina different order or in parallel.

Reference throughout the specification to “various embodiments,” “someembodiments,” “one embodiment,” “some example embodiments,” “one exampleembodiment,” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature,structure, or characteristic described in connection with any embodimentis included in at least one embodiment. Thus, appearances of the phrases“in various embodiments,” “in some embodiments,” “in one embodiment,”“some example embodiments,” “one example embodiment, or “in anembodiment” in places throughout the specification are not necessarilyall referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particularfeatures, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitablemanner in one or more embodiments.

Throughout this disclosure, references to components or modulesgenerally refer to items that logically can be grouped together toperform a function or group of related functions. Like referencenumerals are generally intended to refer to the same or similarcomponents. Components and modules can be implemented in software,hardware, or a combination of software and hardware. The term “software”is used expansively to include not only executable code, for examplemachine-executable or machine-interpretable instructions, but also datastructures, data stores and computing instructions stored in anysuitable electronic format, including firmware, and embedded software.The terms “information” and “data” are used expansively and includes awide variety of electronic information, including executable code;content such as text, video data, and audio data, among others; andvarious codes or flags. The terms “information,” “data,” and “content”are sometimes used interchangeably when permitted by context. It shouldbe noted that although for clarity and to aid in understanding someexamples discussed herein might describe specific features or functionsas part of a specific component or module, or as occurring at a specificlayer of a computing device (for example, a hardware layer, operatingsystem layer, or application layer), those features or functions may beimplemented as part of a different component or module or operated at adifferent layer of a communication protocol stack. Those of ordinaryskill in the art will recognize that the systems, apparatuses, devices,and methods described herein can be applied to, or easily modified foruse with, other types of equipment, can use other arrangements ofcomputing systems such as client-server distributed systems, and can useother protocols, or operate at other layers in communication protocolstacks, than are described.

It is intended that the specification and examples be considered asexemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention beingindicated by the following claims.

1.-20. (canceled)
 21. A method of cloud-based management of paymentdevices, the method comprising: determining if preconfigured informationof a merchant ID associated with a point of interaction device (POI) anda lane ID associated with the POI is set on the POI; upon determiningthat the preconfigured information of the merchant ID associated withthe POI and the lane ID associated with the POI is set on the POI,setting the merchant ID for the POI and the lane ID for the POI based onthe preconfigured information; upon determining that the preconfiguredinformation of the merchant ID associated with the POI and the lane IDassociated with the POI is not set on the POI, obtaining the merchant IDfor the POI and the lane ID for the POI from a user; transmitting themerchant ID for the POI and the lane ID for the POI to a terminalmanagement engine (TME) through a computer network; downloadingoperating software for the POI and configuration files forinitialization of the POI from the TME; initializing the POI using thedownloaded operating software; and configuring the POI using thedownloaded configuration files.
 22. The method of claim 21, furthercomprising: connecting the POI to the TME storing the operating softwarefor the POI and the configuration files for the POI through the computernetwork based on a pre-configured uniform resource locator (URL) storedin the POI or a pre-configured network address stored in the POI. 23.The method of claim 21, further comprising: receiving, at the POI, atransaction request including the lane ID and instructions to processthe transaction request with the POI associated with the lane ID;determining whether the transaction request includes custom UI elements;and upon determining that the transaction request includes the custom UIelements transmitting the custom UI elements to the POI.
 24. The methodof claim 21, wherein the POI connects to the TME through a cloud-basedinterface.
 25. The method of claim 21, further comprising: transmittinga status of the POI to the TME through the computer network.
 26. Themethod of claim 21, wherein the downloading the comprises downloadingthe operating software for the POI and the configuration files forinitialization of the POI from the TME storing the operating softwarefor the POI and the configuration files for the POI to the POI throughthe computer network by way of a pre-configured URL stored in the POI ora pre-configured network address stored in the POI, based ontransmitting the merchant ID and the lane ID associated with the POI tothe TME through the computer network.
 27. The method of claim 21,wherein the determining if the preconfigured information is set on thePOI comprises determining if the preconfigured information is set on thePOI in response to the POI being connected to a network of the merchant.28. A point of interaction (POI) device comprising: a memory configuredto store instructions; and a processor configured to execute theinstructions to perform operations comprising: determining ifpreconfigured information of a merchant ID associated with the POI and alane ID associated with the POI is set on the POI; upon determining thatthe preconfigured information of the merchant ID associated with the POIand the lane ID associated with the POI is set on the POI, setting themerchant ID for the POI and the lane ID for the POI based on thepreconfigured information; upon determining that the preconfiguredinformation of the merchant ID associated with the POI and the lane IDassociated with the POI is not set on the POI, obtaining the merchant IDfor the POI and the lane ID for the POI from a user; transmitting themerchant ID for the POI and the lane ID for the POI to a terminalmanagement engine (TME) through a computer network; downloadingoperating software for the POI and configuration files forinitialization of the POI from the TME; initializing the POI using thedownloaded operating software; and configuring the POI using thedownloaded configuration files.
 29. The POI device of claim 28, whereinthe operations further comprise: connecting the POI to the TME storingthe operating software for the POI and the configuration files for thePOI through the computer network based on a pre-configured uniformresource locator (URL) stored in the POI or a pre-configured networkaddress stored in the POI.
 30. The POI device of claim 28, wherein theoperations further comprise: receiving, at the POI, a transactionrequest including the lane ID and instructions to process thetransaction request with the POI associated with the lane ID;determining whether the transaction request includes custom UI elements;and upon determining that the transaction request includes the custom UIelements transmitting the custom UI elements to the POI.
 31. The POIdevice of claim 28, wherein the POI connects to the TME through acloud-based interface.
 32. The POI device of claim 28, wherein theoperations further comprise: transmitting a status of the POI to the TMEthrough the computer network.
 33. The POI device of claim 28, whereinthe downloading the comprises downloading the operating software for thePOI and the configuration files for initialization of the POI from theTME storing the operating software for the POI and the configurationfiles for the POI to the POI through the computer network by way of apre-configured URL stored in the POI or a pre-configured network addressstored in the POI, based on transmitting the merchant ID and the lane IDassociated with the POI to the TME through the computer network.
 34. ThePOI device of claim 28, wherein the determining if the preconfiguredinformation is set on the POI comprises determining if the preconfiguredinformation is set on the POI in response to the POI being connected toa network of the merchant.
 35. A non-transitory computer-readable mediumconfigured to store instructions that, when executed by a point ofinteraction (POI) device, cause the POI device to perform operationscomprising: determining if preconfigured information of a merchant IDassociated with the POI and a lane ID associated with the POI is set onthe POI; upon determining that the preconfigured information of themerchant ID associated with the POI and the lane ID associated with thePOI is set on the POI, setting the merchant ID for the POI and the laneID for the POI based on the preconfigured information; upon determiningthat the preconfigured information of the merchant ID associated withthe POI and the lane ID associated with the POI is not set on the POI,obtaining the merchant ID for the POI and the lane ID for the POI from auser; transmitting the merchant ID for the POI and the lane ID for thePOI to a terminal management engine (TME) through a computer network;downloading operating software for the POI and configuration files forinitialization of the POI from the TME; initializing the POI using thedownloaded operating software; and configuring the POI using thedownloaded configuration files.
 36. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium of claim 35, wherein the operations further comprise: connectingthe POI to the TME storing the operating software for the POI and theconfiguration files for the POI through the computer network based on apre-configured uniform resource locator (URL) stored in the POI or apre-configured network address stored in the POI.
 37. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 35, wherein the operations furthercomprise: receiving, at the POI, a transaction request including thelane ID and instructions to process the transaction request with the POIassociated with the lane ID; determining whether the transaction requestincludes custom UI elements; and upon determining that the transactionrequest includes the custom UI elements transmitting the custom UIelements to the POI.
 38. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 35, wherein the POI connects to the TME through a cloud-basedinterface.
 39. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 35,wherein the downloading the comprises downloading the operating softwarefor the POI and the configuration files for initialization of the POIfrom the TME storing the operating software for the POI and theconfiguration files for the POI to the POI through the computer networkby way of a pre-configured URL stored in the POI or a pre-configurednetwork address stored in the POI, based on transmitting the merchant IDand the lane ID associated with the POI to the TME through the computernetwork.
 40. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 35,wherein the determining if the preconfigured information is set on thePOI comprises determining if the preconfigured information is set on thePOI in response to the POI being connected to a network of the merchant.